Saturday, October 24, 2015

Chola Dhabala is a very popular Sindhi street food. Tangy chickpea curry is served on bread slices topped with onion kachumbar, mint coriander chutney and thin sev. Some like to add boiled potatoes too. This can be relished during any time of the day. It is quite filling and I prefer it for brunch or dinner. These days various ready masalas like chana masala and chaat masalas are available easily but our mothers and grand mothers used only home ground basic spices. The curry is made with lot of gravy which is nice and tangy.The bread slices are well soaked in it and the chickpeas are spooned on the soaked slices followed by other garnishings.

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the sliced onions until golden brown.
2. Add the tomato, green chillies, ginger and garlic. Saute until the tomato gets cooked.
3. Add some water and simmer. Allow it to cool and blend it using hand blender.
4. Boil the chana in a pressure cooker adding a little salt.
5. Add the boiled chana to the onion gravy. Add the mentioned spice powders, salt and tamarind.
6. Add about 3 cups water and chopped coriander leaves. Simmer for a minute or two until done.

To Serve:
Place a sliced bread or pav bread in a plate. Pour the chana and gravy over it.
Spoon some mint chutney and onion kachumbar.
Sprinkle sev, bhuna jeera powder on top. If you like it spicy you can also sprinkle a little red chilli powder. Finally garnish with some chopped coriander leaves.
Some people also like to add boiled potatoes in the curry.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Kadhi is a very popular Indian dish and the recipe always varies a little from region to region. Dahi kadhi is usually made by blending the yogurt and gram flour together and simmered until done. But in this recipe I am following the Sindhi Kadhi style where we fry the gram flour to get a nice aroma before adding the water. The pakoras (fried gram flour fritters) are added just before serving topped with a tempering.

Method:
1. Make butter milk with yogurt and water.
2. Heat 3 tbsps oil in a pan
3. Add the fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds. When they crackle add the asafoetida and the gram flour. Stir fry until you get an aroma and the besan changes its colour.
4.Now add the buttermilk and stir continuously to avoid the lumps.
5. Add the grated ginger, curry leaves, salt, sugar and turmeric powder.
6. Allow the kadhi to boil until it thickens. Stir in between. (about 10 - 12 minutes)
7. When you are ready to serve it, tip in the pakoras.
8. Heat the remaining 2 tbsps of oil in a small pan.
9. Add the broken red chilli and remove from the gas. When the oil cools a bit add the kashmiri chilli powder and spoon it on the prepared kadhi.

Note: While tempering if you add the chilli powder to the hot oil it becomes blackish and you don't get the nice red colour of the tadka.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Burgers are always welcome specially with kids around. It is an easier meal option for the week ends too. Just have to fry the cutlets and assemble the burgers with the fillings of your choice. This time I made fish burgers for a change and we really loved them.

Method:
1. Boil the fish in a little water with salt for about 10 minutes.
2. Remove from water and allow the slices to cool.
3. Remove all the bones from the fish and mash the flesh.
4. Add salt, flour, garam masala, red chilli pdr, coriander powder, onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, amchoor powder and knead well so that all the ingredients mix evenly
5. Make small lemon sized balls and flatten them slightly
6. Deep fry on medium flame until golden brown.To Assemble the burger:
1.Slit the buns into two.
2. Place a lettuce leaf and the fried burger / cutlet.
3. Spoon any sauce or chutney of your choice. You can also use a slice of cheese if you like.
4. Place the second piece on top and garnish with a cherry tomato using a tooth pick. If the buns are large then use a satay stick.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Goda masala is a spice mix used in Maharashtra and the neighbouring states. It is also popularly known as Kala masala (meaning black spice) probably because of the dark colour.The proportion of the ingredients varies from region to region and each home has a tried and tested unique blend to suit their taste.

Unlike other spice powders here we use a little oil to fry the whole spices before grinding which gives the blackish colour to the blend. The key ingredients in this are sesame seeds and dry dessicated coconut which are just dry roasted as they already have oil content. The dry roasting brings out the colour and flavour in them. There are a couple of ingredients in this spice like nag kesar and niger seeds which are not easily available every where. I have skipped adding them.

Goda masala is added to most of the Maharashtrian dishes but in small quantities along with the souring agents like kokums. It is not a spicy powder so the chilli content is also adjusted during cooking according to the personal preferences. Some of the popular dishes made with this masala are Vangi Bhath, Mashale bhath, Dal amti, Matki usal, Bharli vangi, papdi bhaji etc etc.. and also non veg curries.

Method:
1. Heat 2 tsps oil in a pan and fry the whole spices like cardamoms, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and dagad phool on medium / low flame until they give out a nice aroma. Remove and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tsps oil and fry the cumin seeds, caraway seeds and coriander seeds in the same way.
3. In the same pan dry roast the dessicated coconut, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and dry red chillies, each one separately. Allow them to cool.
4. Mix all these ingredients and grind them in a coffee grinder in 5-6 batches.

Store the masala in a dry sterilized container.

Note: if you like you can add the salt, turmeric powder and asafoetida before storing or you may add them while cooking.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Stuffed brinjals made with any kind of masala taste so delicious and are a perfect accompaniment with dal chawal. I try out with many variations and today's recipe is with South Indian podi (dal powder) that we serve with dosas/idlis. I had some home made curry leaf podi and since it was not very spicy I added chilli powder and few more masalas to it and used as a filling. Try to make this with small brinjals as they get cooked faster.

Method:
1. Wash the small brinjals preferably with the stems intact. Make slits and leave them in salt water.
2. Remove from the water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
3. Mix all the stuffing ingredients adding salt carefully as the podi already has salt in it.
4. Stuff the brinjals with this mix.
5. Heat oil in a saucepan and place the stuffed brinjals.
6. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer.
7. Turn them carefully with a spatula to cook evenly on all the sides.
8. Sprinkle a little water if needed. Usually the small and thin variety of brinjals don't require any water.
Garnish with curry leaves.

Pao de queijo (cheese bread) is a very popular snack / breakfast bread of Brazil. It is available in all the coffee shops, restaurants, eateries and people prefer having it with coffee at any time of the day. This is a very light, fluffy and cheesy bread usually made in small bite size rolls and also one of the easiest breads one can ever make. No rising and fermenting is required. It expands during the baking because of the elasticity of the starch from the cassava flour and cheese content in the dough. Pao de queijo taste the best when are just out of the oven freshly baked and crisp. They soften a bit after some time but still can be relished after warming them a bit.

Ingredients:

Tapioca /Cassava starch ... 250 gms

Milk ............... 1 cup

Water ............. 1 cup

Oil ................. 1/4 cup

Egg................ 1

Parmesan cheese .. 50 gms (about 1 cup)

Salt ........... to taste

Method:

1. In a pan combine the milk, water and oil. Whisk it and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add all the tapioca / cassava starch to it stirring briskly.

2. Remove it in a large bowl.

3. When it cools down a bit and you can handle it , add the egg, grated cheese and salt. Knead it well until everything is well mixed. The dough is usually a bit sticky.

4. Take a small portion of the dough, Roll it to make it smoother and place it on a greased baking tray. You can rub some oil on your palms to make it easier. Repeat this until the dough is used up. Leave enough space in between as the breads expand on baking.

5. Bake them for about 30 minutes or until they are golden and crispy at - 180 C (350 F) temperature.

Please note that the baking time may vary according to the size and type of oven. So keep checking.

This quantity makes about 15 - 18 breads depending on the size you make.